November 11, 2017

On Filmmakers Becoming Part of the Story at DOC NYC Pro

Written by Lisa Kovitz Three directors – Bryan Fogel of Icarus, Yance Ford of Strong Island, and Jeff Orlowski of Chasing Coral – told a DOC NYC PRO audience they did not originally intend to be a character in their films, but a variety of circumstances put each front and center. The panel, moderated by […]

November 11, 2017

Advice On Navigating Sensitive Relationships at DOC NYC PRO

  Written by Lisa Kovitz While people facing significantly challenging life situations is the stuff of compelling documentary, filmmakers are required to take an even more careful approach to their subjects and stories.  Directors Amanda Lipitz of Step, Dan Sickles of Dina, Heidi Ewing of One of Us and Peter Nicks of The Force told […]

November 11, 2017

On The Art of Observation at DOC NYC Pro

  Written by Lisa Kovitz Directors Greg Barker and Laura Poitras, editor Matthew Hamachek, and producer Julie Goldman took to the stage at DOC NYC Pro Day 2 with a focus on observational filmmaking. The panel was moderated by Thom Powers, the Artistic Director of DOC NYC who framed the panel by noting that for […]

November 11, 2017

Morning Manifesto on Short List Day at DOC NYC PRO

Written by Lisa Kovitz WME Agent Liesl Copland has spent her career securing documentary financing, including running a nascent documentary unit called “Red Envelope” in the early days of Netflix.  At WME (recently rebranded as Endeavor Content), she works with passionate, top-level professionals in distribution, financing, and development. Copland outlined two key trends in the […]

November 10, 2017

Morning Manifesto on The State of Documentary at DOC NYC Pro

  Written by Megan Scanlon   Now in its 8th year, with over 250 films and special events, DOC NYC again lights up lower Manhattan with a shared buzz of excitement and camaraderie. As a nod to this, International Documentary Association (IDA) Executive Director Simon Kilmurry, in conversation with  DOC NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, […]

November 10, 2017

On Budgets, Funding, Grants, and More at DOC NYC Pro

  Written by Megan Scanlon Day 1 of DOC NYC Pro was chock full of resources, including tips on what most filmmakers would agree is the most pressing question in their journey to make a great documentary: How am I going to pay for this? On the panel to share their grant evaluation wisdom were […]